Curse or Blessing
by DragonBlade152
Summary: While exploring an abandoned mansion, Paul falls under a Ninetales' curse. Now, doomed to be a Gallade for a year, he must find out just how much his Gardevoir cares for him.
1. What could possibly go wrong?

OK, this is the first story I've ever posted (not written) so go easy on me.

_Italics_ are inner thoughts

Paul pushed his glasses up and brushed his dark hair out of his eyes as he surveyed the crumbling mansion.

"This must be the haunted house everyone was talking about." he glanced at his partner, a Gardevoir who had been with him for almost his entire life and was probably his closest friend, "Think the rumors about a Ninetales living in it are true?"

Gardevoir shrugged, and Paul turned back to the house. It looked dark and foreboding even in the bright morning sun. Definitely not the place where he would chose to live. He smiled. His mom would have a conniption if she found out he was about to go into the dilapidated building. Paul was an only child and had just started his Pokémon adventure a few months ago. His mom was pretty laid back, but she had a tendency to get a little protective when it came to her son. He was on the small side, with dark brown hair, brown eyes, poor vision, and almost no coordination whatsoever. Despite that, he loved being outside and exploring, though his clumsiness often landed him in trouble. After a whole lot of begging, he had finally managed to convince his mom to let him go on his adventure.

"Well, let's start exploring."

Gardevoir looked apprehensive as they went up the creaky wooden steps. Unlike Paul, she didn't seem too fond of exploring, but she stuck with him anyway. The door was a huge oaken affair with a large brass knocker and squealed when he pushed it open. Cautiously, they entered the hall. It was dark inside, with the only light coming in from the door behind them. A thick layer of dust covered the faded purple carpet, showing that no one had been in the house for quite some time. A long, sweeping staircase led upwards into darkness. Several doorways led off into yet more darkness.

"Cheerful place." Paul muttered as he looked around. He thought he saw a faint print in the dust. As he knelt to examine it, there was a sudden gust of wind. The door swung shut, trapping them in utter darkness. Paul's glasses were knocked off his face as he stood. He dove to the ground, calling, "Gardevoir, try to find the light switch!" Paul felt around for his glasses. What he found was not his glasses. It was long with smooth, silky fur.

"Uh oh..."

The lights came on. Paul found himself face to face with a Ninetales which looked very peeved, probably because Paul was holding one of its tails. Paul hastily let go and backed up. The Ninetales swished its tails angrily and launched a curse at Paul. There was a blur of movement.

"Gardevoir, no!"

Gardevoir had come in front of Paul, taking the full brunt of the curse. Paul caught her as she fell. He held Gardevoir close, weeping.

"Do you wish to save Gardevoir?" the Ninetales asked. Paul nodded, tears streaming down his cheeks. Something softened in the Ninetales's face.

"Then Gardevoir will be restored. You will be doomed to be a Pokémon for one year. You must travel with Gardevoir and learn just how much she cares for you."

Paul nodded again, still crying. The Ninetales raised its head and uttered a sharp bark. In his arms, Gardevoir stirred. Then the world went dark.

Sunlight beat mercilessly on Paul's eyelids. He opened his eyes. Gardevoir was staring down at him.

"Gardevoir, you're OK." His voice sounded strange in his ears.

"Yes. I'm glad you are awake."

"How can I..."

Paul sat up and nearly fell over. He wasn't a human anymore. By the look of it, he was a Gallade.

"Oh."

Gardevoir giggled.

"What?" Paul asked, standing up. He felt awkward and ungainly in this new body. Gardevoir giggled again.

"You're like a newly hatched Pokémon." she said.

"Well, I wasn't exactly born a Pokémon, you know." Paul looked around. They were in a forest clearing. "Where are we, anyway?"

"Miles away from where we met Ninetales. It must have transported us here somehow."

Paul looked at the ground.

"Um, thanks for taking the curse for me back there."

"Oh, no problem. You could say it was my obligation."

"What do you mean?"

"It's a Gardevoir thing."

"Um, OK then. What do we do now?"

"What did Ninetales say?"

"Well, it said something about being doomed to be a Pokémon for one year and that I was to travel around with you until I learn how much you care for me, or something like that."

"Only one year? The curse it cast was a thousand-year curse."

"Well, I was bawling my eyes out."

"Maybe Ninetales took pity on you."

"Maybe. What do we do now?"

"Since there's nothing here, we could go somewhere else."

"OK, where?"

"You pick the direction."

"All right, let's go...that way." Paul pointed in a completely random direction.

"OK. Let's go."

They started off. Paul was awkward at first, but soon discovered that he had a natural grace. _Or rather, Gallade have a natural grace,_ he thought. _I can barely keep from tripping over my own feet._

It was starting to get dark when they stopped. Gardevoir disappeared for a few minutes, returning laden with berries. They ate. When they were finished, Paul courteously cleared a place on the ground for Gardevoir before finding himself a place to sleep. He gazed at the stars that were visible through the trees while he listened to Gardevoir's soft, steady breathing. It was odd. He had always been in command of Pokémon before. Now he was one. His Pokémon was now his guide. She was his equal. Well, he had always considered her as his equal, but this was different. She seemed to know so much more than he did. Gardevoir were naturally loyal to their trainers. He knew that much. But now that he was no longer truly her trainer, would Gardevoir still be loyal? With these thoughts spinning around in his head, Paul drifted off to sleep.


	2. A Mightyena, a break in, and a fire

Paul woke up slightly stiff. He sat up. _So it wasn't just a dream,_ he thought. _I'm still a Gallade._ Gardevoir was nowhere in sight. He stood and walked around the clearing, getting adjusted to his new body. Soon he was able to run, jump, and even do cartwheels without falling over. All this work had made him hungry. Gardevoir still wasn't back, so he set off looking for her. Paul could sort of _sense _where Gardevoir had gone. She wasn't very far away. He found her backed up against a tree facing a growling Mightyena. Paul reacted out of instinct. He ran at the Mightyena and slashed with the blades that suddenly extended from his elbows. The Mightyena howled as it flew, thudding to the ground some distance away. Paul examined the blades protruding from his elbows.

"Weird."

"Watch out!"

Paul looked up just in time to see the Mightyena leap at him. He was bowled over but quickly got to his feet. Mightyena was a Dark type. That made it immune to Psychic attacks, hence why Gardevoir had been backed up against a tree. Gallade was a Psychic-Fighting type. However, he didn't seem to know any Fighting type moves. The Mightyena leaped at him again. Paul leaped back before slashing at it. The Mightyena fell. Paul was immediately on top of it, pinning it down. He placed one of his blades across the Mightyena's throat.

"What is your problem?" he asked.

"You're trespassing." The Mightyena growled, "Now get off me!"

"Please works wonders, you know."

"Fine. Please get off me."

Paul let the Mightyena up, still watching it carefully. "You know, you'd make more friends if you didn't attack everyone you saw."

"Then how do I deal with trespassers?" The Mightyena asked angrily.

"You could try asking."

"All right. Will you please get off my land before I rip your head off?"

Paul bowed. "Very well." He turned to Gardevoir. "Ladies first." They walked off, leaving behind a very confused Mightyena.

They walked along until Paul's stomach growled. Gardevoir laughed and started showing Paul the edible plants in the area. They continued until dark. They had just settled in for the night when Paul thought of something.

"Mom's not going to be happy when she learns that her only child got turned into a Pokémon." he said.

"Well, it's only for a year. You could just write to her and not mention that you're a Pokémon."

"But how would I get the stamps and envelope?"

"I don't know."

Paul was silent for a moment.

"Well, I guess I could break into someone's house and use their e-mail."

"I'm not sure that's a good idea."

"Do you have a better one?"

"Well, no. Let's sleep on it."

They went to sleep, watched over by the stars and a pair of eyes that had been watching them all day.

The next day yielded no better ideas of how to contact Paul's mom without letting her know that he was a Pokémon. That afternoon they spotted a house. It was far away from any other human residence and apparently, after watching it for several hours, had internet. The next day they waited until they saw an opportunity. The entire family piled into their van and drove off toward town. As soon as they were out of sight, Paul and Gardevoir tried the door. It was locked.

"What do we do now?" Gardevoir asked. Paul searched the ground until he found what he was after. He inserted the hairpin into the lock and jiggled it until the lock clicked and the door swung open.

"Where did you find the hairpin?" Gardevoir asked as they stepped inside.

"I saw one of the girls drop it as they left." he answered, "I taught myself how to pick locks a couple of summers ago. I was really bored." He added when he saw the look on Gardevoir's face.

Luckily for them the computer was still on. Paul quickly got onto the internet and typed up and e-mail to his mom.

Dear mom,

The videophones at the pokécenter are out of order so a nice family is letting me use their e-mail. I will be going into a pretty wild area so you may not hear from me for a while. I can't stay long so don't bother trying to contact me.

Love,

Paul

Paul hit the send and logged off the internet.

"They're coming back." Gardevoir called from her position at the window. They hurried out the door. Paul made sure to lock it from the inside as he went out. They got into the woods just as the van pulled up.

"That was close." Paul said as they put more distance between them and the house.

"What did you tell your mom?" Gardevoir asked.

"I told her I was going to go into a pretty wild area so she wouldn't be hearing from me for a while and not to try to contact me."

"Do you think she'll believe it?"

"I sure hope so."

They wandered around for several weeks. One day, they saw a pillar of smoke rising above the trees.

"We should check it out." Paul said, heading straight for it. Gardevoir fallowed, albeit more reluctantly. They came to the source of the smoke. A house had caught on fire. Human firefighters seemed to have it under control. They were about to leave when Paul heard cries of distress. On the opposite side of the house from the firefighters there was a shed, it's roof on fire. Paul could just make out small figures huddled inside. Without thinking, Paul ran forward. He reached the shed just as the roof started to collapse and used his psychic powers to stop it. Paul saw five children huddled in the middle of what appeared to have been their clubhouse.

"What are you doing?" Gardevoir called, unable to see what was happening.

"Get the children out!" Paul yelled over the noise of the fire. Gardevoir came up closer and saw the children. She ran in and started getting them out one by one.

"Hurry!" Paul grunted as the fire ate away at more of the roof. The heat was getting to be unbearable. There were two more children inside. Now one more. He could feel his shield slipping. Gardevoir got the last child out and a safe distance away with the others just as Paul's shield failed. The resulting crash flung him head over heels. He landed hard and hit his head on a rock, knocking him unconscious.

Paul woke up dazed and confused. Why were there all these people surrounding him? And why did his arm hurt? He sat up and was immediately embraced by Gardevoir.

"You're a hero." she said. Paul blushed.

"I was just doing what needed to be done." he mumbled. Gardevoir finally let go of him. He looked at his arm and saw a large, shiny burn.

"Make way, people!" Officer Jenny came up, followed by Nurse Joy and a woman with a small girl clinging to her skirt. The girl waved shyly at Paul. Paul smiled and waved back before being subjected to a rib-crushing hug by the woman.

"You saved my boys! How can I ever thank you?" she said, crying.

"All right ma'am, let Nurse Joy see to it." Officer Jenny said. The woman let go and Nurse Joy came up. She examined Paul before slathering some cream on his burn and bandaging it. While his injuries were being tended to, Paul saw that the five children, having suffered no permanent harm, were alternately hugging and dancing around Gardevoir. She saw Paul watching and waved. He waved back and was cuffed lightly by Nurse Joy.

"Hold still, will you?" she said, smiling nonetheless. People with cameras flooded in and immediately started taking pictures. Another person was interviewing people. In the chaos, Paul and Gardevoir managed to slip away.

"That was very brave of you." Gardevoir said as they walked. Paul blushed and mumbled something incoherent. Gardevoir laughed.

"You don't have to be so humble." She turned serious. "You saved lives. I doubt anyone will forget that soon."

"Well, you did most of the saving." Paul replied, "I just held the roof up."

"But you saw what was going on and rushed to help. I didn't even see them until you told me to get them out. You risked your life to hold up that roof."

They walked on, unaware of the shadow that followed.


	3. Pika Problem

Oh, I forgot to mention earlier. I don't won anything (except my ideas).

A few days later, they had stopped for lunch. Gardevoir had gone in search of something to eat, insisting that Paul stay and rest his arm. She had not been gone long when Paul heard faintly,

"Pikachu, use thunder!"

Fearing the worse, Paul headed in the direction of the voice. His fears were confirmed as he stepped into a clearing. Gardevoir was facing three humans and a Pikachu. She swayed, obviously having been attacked more than once.

"Use iron tail!" one of the humans called out. The Pikachu's tail glowed as it ran at Gardevoir. It hit her with its glowing tail and Gardevoir went down.

"All right." the human said as he threw a pokeball. Paul leaped in front of Gardevoir and batted the pokeball away.

"What the..." the human pulled out a red device and flipped it open.

"Gallade. The blade Pokémon. A master of courtesy and swordsmanship, it fights using extending swords on its elbows." a mechanical voice said.

"A Gallade?" another, taller human said.

"I guess so." the first human said. "Pikachu, use iron tail!"

Paul leaped over Pikachu as it swung its tail at him.

"Agility!" Once again Paul dodged Pikachu's attack without moving from in front of Gardevoir.

"Try a thunderbolt!" Paul deflected the thunderbolt with his psychic powers.

"Wait a second." another human, a girl, said. "Look at its arm" she pointed to Paul's bandaged arm. "I read in the paper about a Gardevoir and Gallade who saved some kids from a fire. It said that the Gallade suffered a burn. Gallade," she walked forward and knelt down, "are you the Gallade that saved those kids from the fire?"

Paul, holding his ground and not lowering his defense, nodded. The girl stood and dusted off her knees.

"See? I told you." she said.

"All right." the first human said, looking slightly disappointed.

"We should probably get them both to a pokécenter." the tall human said. He approached Gardevoir from an angle. Paul leaped in front of him.

"We only want to help." the first human said.

"We need to take your friend to a pokécenter." the girl added. Paul looked at all three of them before carefully picking up Gardevoir. He winced slightly at the pressure on his burn, but bore it stoically. He followed the humans to a pokécenter located at the edge of a small town.

"Hello." the Nurse Joy said as they entered. She saw Gallade carrying Gardevoir and came out from behind the counter.

"What happened?" she asked as she gently took Gardevoir and carried her into a room, where she laid Gardevoir on the bed.

"Genius here tried to capture it." the girl said, pointing to the boy with the Pikachu.

"And then the Gallade jumped in and defended it." the tall boy added. "We think it's the Gallade that saved those kids from the fire a few days ago."

"He might be." Nurse Joy said, examining Gardevoir.

"How do you know that it's a he?" the girl asked.

"Because Gallade evolve from a male Kirlia when you use a dawn stone." Nurse Joy looked at Paul. "Isn't that right?" Paul nodded. As long as she didn't ask how _he_ had become a Gallade...

Nurse Joy finished examining Gardevoir.

"All Gardevoir needs is some rest." she said as she ushered the others out. Paul refused to leave.

"Have it your way, then." Nurse Joy said as she carried in bandages and tubes of ointment. She gently unwound the bandages from Paul's arm and examined the burn.

"It seems to be healing quite nicely." she said as she put some more burn cream on the burn and wrapped it in fresh bandages. "You can take the bandages off in a week."

Paul nodded and settled beside the bed. Nurse Joy left the room to see to the rest of the pokécenter, leaving Paul to watch over Gardevoir.

Gardevoir woke up the next day.

"Where am I?"

"At a pokécenter."

"But how did I get here?"

Paul explained what had happened. "I 'll have to not let you out of my sight again." he said, "First the Mightyena and now this."

"They took me by surprise." Gardevoir said, "I didn't have a chance to defend myself."

Nurse Joy entered. She did not seem at all surprised to see Gardevoir awake. Nurse Joy examined Gardevoir and nodded.

"You can leave now." she said before turning to Paul. "Remember, keep that bandage on for one week."

Paul bowed. Nurse Joy giggled, then thought of something.

"You wouldn't happen to know a Paul Johnson, would you?"

Paul nodded, startled. Nurse Joy left and came back a second later with a large envelope. She gave it to Paul.

"Could you take that to Paul Johnson?" she asked.

Paul nodded as he took the envelope. It was indeed addressed to him. He tucked it under his arm and assisted Gardevoir outside, where they got into the woods as soon as possible. They stopped underneath a large tree and sat down. Paul examined the envelope. It looked like his mother's handwriting. With some trepidation he opened the envelope. Inside was a letter, a smaller stamped envelope, and a newspaper clipping. He unfolded the letter and began reading.

Dear Paul,

I know you said not to try to contact you, but I couldn't help myself. I know Nurse Joy will get this to you somehow. I've included an envelope and some paper in case the videophones are out again. Write soon.

Lots of love,

Mom

P.S. I have included a newspaper article that I think you'll like. The Gardevoir looks a lot like yours. It's amazing what Pokémon will do.

Paul looked at the newspaper clipping. It looked to be the front page. At the top was a picture of a Gardevoir and a Gallade surrounded by people. The caption read: "Gallade and Gardevoir save children from fire." Paul read the article and wordlessly handed the letter and the newspaper clipping to Gardevoir. She read them and laughed.

"It's a good picture of us." she said.

"Yeah. Leave it to mom to send me an article about us without knowing it's about us. She was right, though. The Gardevoir in the picture does look like you."

Gardevoir laughed again. "I wonder why."


	4. A stampede and Sharpedo wrestling 101

A week later Paul took the bandages off. The burn had healed, leaving nothing but a slight scar. They continued wandering, eventually coming to a wide open plain. That night they looked at the stars.

"The sky is so big here." Paul said in a hushed voice.

"And there's so many stars." Gardevoir added. They made up constellations, pointing them out to each other.

"That one looks like a Flygon."

"Right there looks like a Machoke strangling an Ekans."

"It looks more like an Arbok to me."

"How can you tell?"

"Those stars there make up Arbok's hood."

"Oh, I see it now."

They fell asleep underneath the twinkling stars.

Paul woke to a rumbling sound. At first he thought it was his stomach. Then he felt the ground shaking.

"Is it an earthquake?" Gardevoir asked, apparently having also just woken up. Paul stood and scanned the horizon.

"Look at that." he said, pointing to a large dust cloud that seemed to be heading towards them. Gardevoir's eyes grew wide.

"Run!" she said, "It's a stampede!"

"What's stampeding?" Paul asked as they started running.

"Tauros. They sometimes start stampeding for no apparent reason."

"Oh, great."

They ran at an angle to the stampeding Tauros, trying to get out of the way. Gardevoir, much less adept at running, started to lag behind. She tripped and fell. Paul ran a few more steps before noticing. He ran back and picked her up just as the first Tauros reached them. Paul jumped and landed on its back. Struggling to balance on the running Tauros while carrying Gardevoir, Paul gathered his nerve and started jumping from Tauros to Tauros. After a few near-mishaps he succeeded in getting to the edge of the herd and leaped to the ground. He went a few more paces before setting Gardevoir down.

"I didn't know you could do that." she said as Paul sat down beside her.

"Neither did I."

They rested a few minutes before continuing.

After more wandering they came to the sea shore. Waves lapped gently on the sand as a gentle breeze blew.

"I've never seen the ocean before." Paul said.

"Me neither. It's so big."

"Yeah, it looks like it goes on forever."

They continued walking and soon saw a Magikarp flopping helplessly on the sand. Paul walked up to it.

"Do you need some help?"

"Yes. Get me back in the water, please."

Paul gently picked up the Magikarp, waded a little ways out, and set it in the water. The Magikarp swam a little ways out, waved a fin, and disappeared from view. Gardevoir shook her head.

"You'll do anything to help someone, won't you?"

Paul was spared answering when the Magikarp reappeared, closely followed by an ominous dorsal fin belonging to a Sharpedo.

"Help! It's going to eat me!" the Magikarp cried, swerving to avoid the Sharpedo's jaws. Paul didn't think twice. He jumped onto the Sharpedo's back, grabbed it's fin and leaned hard, making it turn. Sharpedo's rough skin hurt Paul, but he hung on gamely. Once they were close to shore, Paul jumped off and wrestled Sharpedo into submission.

"If I hear of you tormenting weaker Pokémon again, I will make sure you regret it. Got it?"

He held the Sharpedo down in the shallows until it growled an affirmative. Jumping back, Paul watched it roll around awkwardly until it reached deeper water, where it speedily swam off. Paul waded to shore, where he shook himself dry.

"Like I said, you'd do anything to help someone, wouldn't you?"

Once again the Magikarp saved Paul from answering.

"Thank you for saving me. Bye!"

It swam off.

"You wrestled a Sharpedo?" a dreamy voice said. Both Paul and Gardevoir jumped and looked around for the source of the voice. It came from an Azumarill, who was looking adoringly at Paul.

"Um...yeah." Paul said uncertainly.

"Wow, you're so amazing for a Gallade."

"Yeah, um...we'll just be on our way now."

Paul and Gardevoir headed towards the dunes and away from the Azumarill, who was still making eyes at Paul.

"That was so weird." Paul said, helping Gardevoir to stay upright as they slid down a dune.

"I agree with you."

They traveled by the sea shore for several days, eventually sighting a mountain up ahead.

"What do we do now?" Paul asked.

"We could go over it, around it, or avoid, it depending on where we're going."

"Well, I have no idea where we're going. In fact, I didn't think we even had a set destination."

"We don't. So which way are we going?"

"I don't know. What do you want to do?"

"I don't particularly care one way or the other."

"I don't care, either."

"Well, someone has to decide."

"We could go back and ask that Azumarill."

Gardevoir rolled her eyes. "That twit?" She fluttered her eyes and spoke in a passable imitation of the Azumarill. "Wow, you want to know where to go? Wow, you're so amazing for a Gallade."

Paul was doubled over, laughing. Gardevoir joined him, laughing until they were laying on the sand, gasping for breath in between giggles.

"Seriously, where do we go?" Gardevoir asked once they had calmed down.

"Well, since we don't have anywhere else to go, we could try climbing over the mountain. It would be something new at least."

"Like we haven't had any new experiences in the past few months. Or do you wrestle Sharpedo on a regular basis?"

"Point taken. Are we going up the mountain, then?"

"I'll go if you will."

"All right, then, let's get going."


	5. Cloudy with a chance of Snover

The mountain was farther away than it appeared. It took them about a week to reach it, since they walked at a leisurely pace. Conifers grew on the mountainside, eventually giving way to bare slopes topped with snow. The air got thinner as they climbed, making breathing difficult. After about a day they were wading through snow, which grew higher as they went on. Around noon of their second day on the mountain, Gardevoir sat down on a fallen tree trunk.

"I don't know about you, but I need a rest."

Paul didn't feel like resting just yet, but he sat down beside Gardevoir.

"The snow is really pretty."

"Yes. If only it wasn't so cold."

A small white, brown and green Pokémon appeared from behind a tree. It started slowly, almost shyly, sidling up to them. Gardevoir smiled.

"Why, hello there."

A little more boldly, the Pokémon came up to them and touched Gardevoir's knee before giggling.

"Snover." Gardevoir whispered to Paul. "Extremely curious." Suddenly they were surrounded by five other Snover. The Snover crowded around them, babbling excitedly and asking all manner of questions. They quieted down when Gardevoir introduced them. "Will you play with us?" one piped up.

"Of course we will."

Immediately the Snover scattered, whooping and calling out, "Hide and seek! Hide and seek!" Soon Paul and Gardevoir were alone in the clearing. They looked at each other.

"I guess we're it." Paul said. Gardevoir touched Paul and ran off, calling back, "Now you're it!"

"Hey!"

Paul gave chase, finding the Snover as he went. As the game progressed, Paul found that he couldn't hide on the ground very well, so he took to the trees. As night came on, he watched two of the six Snover wander around, peering up into the tree branches in search of him. Suddenly the sky grew darker than it should have been. The two Snover paused. Paul looked up. A swarm of Murkrow was descending, led by a larger-than-average Honchkrow. The Murkrow swooped down upon the Snover, urged on by their leader. Paul launched himself from his hiding place straight into the Murkrow. He stood above the little ones, hacking and slashing at the dark feathery bundles that pressed them on all sides. Gardevoir and the other Snover ran up, alerted by the uproar. Gardevoir immediately rushed in to help, followed by the others.

"Shield them!" Paul yelled above the melee. Without further adieu he leaped onto a large branch of a gargantuan pine tree. He jumped from branch to branch, climbing higher and drawing off a fair number of Murkrow. Soon he was almost level with the Honchkrow. Paul leaped at it. The Honchkrow saw him coming and tried to dodge but wasn't fast enough. Paul caught it in what was literally a flying tackle. They plummeted to earth, landing with a thud in the snow. The Murkrow left off their attack, gathering around their fallen leader. The Honchkrow emerged, looking worse-for-wear, and led the Murkrow off while it still had some dignity. Gardevoir and the Snover hurried over to Paul, who sat up, spitting snow and feathers.

"Are you alright?" Gardevoir asked worriedly.

Paul spat out another feather. "Yeah. We landed in some pretty deep snow, and ol' mattress-bottom landed first."

An Abomasnow emerged from the trees. The Snover ran up to it, babbling in excited voices. The Abomasnow, presumably their mother, listened intently. After hearing the story, she turned to Paul.

"So you're the one who saved my little ones from the Murkrow?"

Paul scratched his head. "I guess I am."

Gardevoir rolled her eyes before introducing them to Abomasnow.

"Well, the least we could do is offer you a place to spend the night."

"Sounds great." Paul said. They followed Abomasnow to a large, comfy cave, partially hidden by snow and trees. Pine boughs lined ledges, making comfortable seats and beds.

"Claim your spot now."

Paul and Gardevoir sat down on the ledges closest to the entrance. The Abomasnow cast a stern eye over the rambunctious Snover. "Last one snoring gets reported to your father when he comes home tomorrow."

The Snover immediately leaped onto the nearest ledges and started snoring. The Abomasnow winked at Paul and Gardevoir.

"Works every time."

Later that night, Paul buried his head in the pine branches. It was no use. The whole cavern shook with the snores of the Snover and Abomasnow.

"This is worse than when mom tried to teach herself how to play the trumpet."

"At least with your mom you could ask her to stop." Gardevoir said, covering her ears.

Eventually they both fell asleep. The next morning they said goodbye to the Snover and Abomasnow, politely declining offers to stay another night. Soon they were clear of the trees. The peak rose a short way above them, flat on top and bare of snow. They looked around in awe once they reached it.

"You can see for miles." Paul said.

"This is what flying-type Pokémon must see."

"Almost makes you wish you could fly."

"Look over there. It's the ocean!"

"It looks like there's a huge island over there."

"It looks so beautiful."

"We'll explore it next, if you like."

"All right, but first we have to get off this mountain."

They started down. Paul glanced back and thought he saw something white on the bare, gray peak. When he looked again, there was nothing there.

Soon they came to the treeline. Paul saw a straight path running down the mountainside.

"What's that?"

Gardevoir looked at it. "A Graveler run. Sometimes they roll down the mountain just for fun."

Paul got an idea. He searched around and came up with two flattish pieces of wood.

"Do you want to go sledding?" he asked with a grin.

Five seconds later they were flying down the slope. Paul laughed, exhilarated. Gardevoir, after a few moments of terrified silence, laughed with him. Almost imperceptibly at first, the slope started to level out. They slowed to a halt.

"That was great." Paul said. A rumbling noise caused them to look up the slope, where they saw a large gray object hurtling towards them. They dove to the side, just barely avoiding getting run over. The gray thing stopped and uncurled, revealing a Graveler.

"Um, hi." Paul said. The Graveler took a closer look at them.

"A Gardevoir and a Gallade! What a cute couple!"

Paul and Gardevoir looked at each other. "Awkward." Gardevoir mouthed.

"We're not a couple." Paul said, "I'm, uh, escorting her! Yeah, that's it. I'm making sure she gets to where she's going safely."

"And where are you going?" the Graveler asked.

"It's, um, a secret. Sorry, but, uh, you know how that goes."

"Oh, that's fine. Good luck getting to wherever you're going!" the Graveler curled up and continued its roll.

"Let's go before another one comes down." Paul said. They started walking.

"So just where are you escorting me?" Gardevoir asked.

Paul winked."It's so secret, even I don't know." They both laughed.


	6. Island Adventure

Two days later they reached the seashore. A wide stretch of water separated them from the island.

"How do we get across?" Paul asked.

"I don't know. I can't swim."

They stared at the island for a few minutes.

"I got nothing." Paul said.

The water in front of them erupted as a huge blue serpentine Pokémon burst from the water.

"A Gyrados." Gardevoir whispered. Paul stepped in front of her and assumed a defensive position. However, the Gyrados did not attack. Instead, it did the Gyrados equivalent of a smile.

"Hi."

"Um, do I know you?" Paul asked, confused.

"Remember that Magikarp you saved from that Sharpedo a couple of weeks ago? Well, that's me."

"Really? Great! Has that Sharpedo been bothering anyone?"

"Nope. I've been keeping an eye on it."

"Awesome."

"Do you think you could get us over to that island?" Gardevoir asked.

"I don't think you want to go there." Gyrados said, "There's some nasty Pokémon over there."

"I guess we'll have to change our plans." Paul said. He suddenly froze, his head cocked.

"What is it?"

Paul waved them to silence and stood still a moment. "Someone's calling for help, over on that island."

"Are you sure?" Gardevoir asked.

"Positive. Could you take us over there for a minute?" he asked Gyrados.

"All right, if you're sure."

Gyrados lowered his head and Paul and Gardevoir jumped on. A minute later they were on the white beach of the island.

"I'll wait right here."

Thanks." Paul said before rushing into the dense foliage with Gardevoir at his heels. He followed the cries to a small clearing. A terrified Sentret was backing away from a Nidoking.

"H...help!"

"What's going on?" Paul exclaimed as he burst from the trees.

"Save me!" the Sentret squeaked. The Nidoking faced them and lowered its head to charge. Suddenly they were surrounded by Gardevoir. The Nidoking looked around, confused, before charging in a random direction.

"Time we weren't here." Gardevoir said as she and Paul grabbed the Sentret and ran. They made it to the beach in record time. The Sentret stopped.

"G-G-Gyrados!"

"It's a friend." Paul said as he dragged him over.

"That was fast." Gyrados remarked as they climbed on.

"That's why." Paul pointed to the Nidoking that had just burst from the trees. It saw them and charged. Gyrados turned around and headed for the shore at breakneck speed, leaving the Nidoking to stomp angrily in the shallows.

"That was an awesome double team, by the way." Paul said as they approached land.

"Why thank you." Gardevoir blushed slightly.

As soon as they reached land the Sentret jumped off and started kissing the sand.

"Um, are you OK?" Paul asked.

"Yes. I'm just so glad to be off that island."

"How did you end up over there anyways?" Gardevoir asked.

"Well, the island looked so pretty, and I didn't have anything else to do, so I made a raft and floated over there."

Paul smacked his head. "Duh! A raft! Why didn't I think of that?"

The Sentret looked at Gardevoir, who shrugged, before continuing. "So I floated over there. I hadn't gone very far when I found out that the island was filled with big, mean Pokémon. But when I went back to my raft to leave, I found that the tide had carried it away. I was trying to build another one when that Nidoking cornered me. I was afraid I was a goner until you showed up. Thank you so much!"

"It was nothing." Paul said, looking slightly embarrassed.

"Oh, but it was! You can have this as a token of my thanks. I found it on the island while I was building my raft." Sentret untied something from his tail and handed it to Paul. It was a curiously carved stone hung on a cord like a pendant. He handed it to Gardevoir, who looked at it thoroughly before handing it back. Somewhat self-consciously he put it on like a necklace.

"Thanks."

"Thank you. See you later!"

The Sentret left. Paul turned to Gyrados. "Thanks for getting us over there."

"No problem. See you." Gyrados swam out a little ways and dived. Paul looked at Gardevoir.

"I guess that's that."

They started walking. Paul fingered the stone.

"I think this might look better on you."

Gardevoir waved a hand. "You earned it."

"What do you mean?"

"You were the one that rushed to the rescue."

Paul shrugged uncomfortably. "It wasn't a big deal."

Gardevoir stopped and rounded on him. "It _was_ a big deal. You saved a life, Paul. You've saved a lot of lives. What would Sentret say if he knew thought his life was no big deal? How would those Snover feel, or Gyrados, or those kids, or..."

She stopped, but Paul knew she was about to say "me." Suddenly it hit him like a ton of bricks. "Oh wow." he said, "That's really...I mean...Well, um...I-I didn't realize...I just..."

Gardevoir held up a hand. "You were just doing what you thought was right without thinking of what you were really saving." her face softened a bit, "I can understand that. Just next time, could you think about what you're saving instead of just doing it and moving on?"

Paul thought about it. Hard. Was that really all he had been doing? Just saving lives and forgetting about it? Well, not really forgetting. But he had just shrugged it off as no big deal. But it was a big deal, especially to those he had saved. "I will, I promise."

Gardevoir smiled. "Good. Let's go."


	7. Everyone loves mud

Several more weeks of wandering passed by. One day Paul became aware of a smell that could not be described as pleasant.

"What is that reek?"

Gardevoir sniffed. "A swamp, and pretty close, too."

"Cool! Let's check it out."

"And just why do you want to go to a smelly, muddy swamp?" Gardevoir asked as they turned in the direction of the smell.

"Because I've never seen a swamp before. It'll be something to tell my mom about."

"Yes, I guess you couldn't really tell her about the Sharpedo wrestling without doing some serious explaining."

"Maybe if I said I saved a little girl instead of a Magikarp, but lying to your mom is never a good idea."

"All-knowing mother, huh?" Gardevoir grinned. Paul grinned back.

"Yeah. I'm wondering if she hasn't already tried to find me in her crystal ball yet."

Gardevoir laughed.

The swamp was only a few hours away. Paul looked at it with interest while Gardevoir eyed it with distaste.

"You've seen the swamp. Can we go now?"

Paul looked at her with amusement. "Not a swamp lover, huh? That's OK, there's not much but grass, trees, and mud. Let's..." he stopped and listened for a moment, "I hear a buzzing sound. We should check it out."

He began to trek deeper into the swamp, carefully searching for the firmest patches of ground. With a sigh Gardevoir followed, making sure to follow exactly in Paul's footsteps. The source of the buzzing noise was a swarm of Beedrill hovering over a small mound, occasionally diving. A larger mud mass was trying to swat them away.

"We should help." Paul said before jumping over and slicing at the Beedrill. Gardevoir sighed again before following to lend her help. Paul soon found that the copious amounts of mud hindered his movement. What's more, the more he hit the Beedrill, the angrier they became. He also found out that Beedrill stings hurt. In desperation, Paul leaped as high as the mud would let him and grabbed a low-hanging branch. He struggled onto it and climbed higher, noticing that the Beedrill were now focusing solely on him. Inspiration seized him and he began leaping from tree to tree, praying that he would be able to find his way back. After a time and a few more stings the Beedrill gave up the chase, and Paul was able to find his way back to Gardevoir. The large mud-covered thing was actually a Swampert. The Swampert was talking to Gardevoir, who was holding a ball of mud. Only when Paul landed next to her did he realize that the mud ball had a head with a fin on top.

"Are they gone?" she asked.

"Yep." Paul said as he nursed one of his many stings.

"Roll in the mud." the Swampert suggested, "It'll cool the stings."

Paul did as directed and was soon covered in mud up to his neck. It did make the stings feel better.

"Thanks." he said.

"Thank you for leading off those Beedrill."

"If you don't mind my asking, why were they attacking?"

The Swampert sighed. "My little one broke into their nest looking for honey. I'm afraid he has a massive sweet tooth."

At this the baby Mudkip, for that is what it was, jumped out of Gardevoir's arms and went over to his mother, who cradled him affectionately.

"I have to thank you again."

"It was..." Paul looked at Gardevoir, cleared his throat, and tried again. "I'm glad that he's safe."

Gardevoir gave a tiny nod, and Paul breathed a silent sigh of relief. All of a sudden the Mudkip leaped out of his mother's arms, jumped at Gardevoir, knocking her down, and planted a big muddy kiss on her cheek. Paul tried to conceal his laughter and failed miserably. Gardevoir glared at him before getting an idea.

"He looks like he needs a big kiss too." she whispered. Mudkip happily obliged. He tackled Paul and planted an even muddier kiss on his cheek. This time everyone laughed.

"If you'll follow me I'll take you to our home." Swampert invited. Paul and Gardevoir accepted, and they began trudging through the mud. It soon became waist high in places. Paul could see that Gardevoir was struggling, so after a few minutes of heated discussion he persuaded her to climb on his back. Onward they went. Paul was about ready to give up when he felt solid rock under his feet. Soon they were climbing a slope, which took them out of the mud and up a large hill. Paul gratefully let Gardevoir down outside the mouth of a cave. Swampert led them through a short tunnel into a cavern lit by several large cracks which allowed sunlight in. The most amazing thing, though, was the waterfall that tumbled from a ledge high above and flowed through a crack in one wall. Sunlight danced off the water, creating shimmering patterns on the walls.

"This is amazing." Gardevoir breathed.

"Into the water with you." Swampert grabbed Mudkip, shoved him under the waterfall before he could run off, and held him tight despite his squirming. After he was thoroughly clean, his mother dropped him on the other side of the fall. "Go tell your father we have guests."

Mudkip scampered off, and Swampert motioned for Paul and Gardevoir to join her. They rinsed the sticky mud off before continuing through another short tunnel and into a much larger cave. More cracks let sunlight in. Another Swampert was standing in the middle of the room, with Mudkip running around him chirping excitedly.

"Oh, you meant _guests._" the Swampert grabbed Mudkip and swung him around before tucking him under one arm. "From the way you were running around we could have been under an invasion for all I knew."

Mudkip beamed from under his arm. He turned to the guests.

"You can call me Papa, that's Mama, and this little rascal is Mudkip, although usually he's more mud than kip."

Mama Swampert began telling of the Beedrill fiasco, with the occasional chirp or nod from Mudkip. When she was done, Papa Swampert looked at Paul.

"It was very brave of you to lead those Beedrill off."

Paul blushed slightly and mumbled something that sounded like, "Gardevoir helped, too."

Papa Swampert laughed. "I guess the least we can do for you heroes is give you a meal and a place to sleep. Sit down and tell me what you've been doing while we get dinner on."

They sat. Paul was content to let Gardevoir do the talking, though she emphasized his part more than he would have liked. As he listened, he watched Mudkip run around, occasionally stopping to listen or helping his parents. After Gardevoir had told about the island incident, Papa Swampert asked, "May I see your pendant?"

Paul took it off and handed it to him. He examined it curiously before handing it back.

"I've never seen anything like it, but I've heard something about a pattern similar to that, or maybe the same."

Paul's ears perked. "What did you hear?"

"Well," Papa Swampert sat down, "I believe it went something like 'the pattern is the key to great treasure' or something like that. I thought you might find it interesting."

"We do." Gardevoir said. Paul nodded. Mama Swampert came over with a pile of assorted grasses and plants which Paul assumed were native to the swamp.

"Dig in."

They obliged willingly. The grasses had a spicy flavor, while the other food was either tangy or sweet. After the meal Papa Swampert requested another tale from Paul, who started telling about their adventure with the Snover. After making him start over twice because he kept on glossing over his part, Gardevoir took over. Paul, relieved, sat back and closed his eyes. Mudkip curled up in Gardevoir's lap and listened intently. When she was done, Papa Swampert whistled and sat back.

"You two seem to have a knack for helping others."

"It's mostly him." Gardevoir motioned to Paul, who was now fast asleep, "You'd be hard pressed to get him to admit it, though. He's not too fond of being the center of attention. Tries to avoid it, actually."

"Well, that might not be such a bad thing. I'd take a humble hero over a proud one any day."

"Same here, but I doubt he'd like being called a hero."

Papa Swampert shrugged. "It's what he is."

Gardevoir smiled as she looked at Paul, deep asleep and unaware of their conversation. "Yes," she said, "yes he is."

The next morning Papa Swampert offered to to show them an easier way out of the swamp. Paul and Gardevoir agreed, so after breakfast, goodbyes, and more, relatively cleaner kisses from Mudkip, Papa Swampert led them to a tunnel on the other side of the hill. It was long and unlit, with a low ceiling that forced them to bend almost double in some places. After quite a while they emerged into sunlight at the edge of the swamp. Papa Swampert waved goodbye before returning to his family.

"See? Swamps aren't that bad." Paul said as they started walking. Gardevoir made a face.

"The Pokémon that live in the swamps are fine. The swamps still suck."

Paul had to laugh.


	8. City Mishaps

During the next week Gardevoir noticed that Paul seemed to become increasingly worried about something. One day after breakfast she asked, "What are you worried about?"

Paul blinked a couple of times. "Huh?"

Gardevoir sighed. "Don't 'huh' me. You're worried about something. Spit it out."

Paul grinned in spite of himself. "Guess there's no fooling you. I'm just wondering how worried my mom is, since I haven't written to her in months."

"She's probably getting a little frantic. You might want to write soon."

Paul nodded. "The question is how. I suppose we could break into someone's house and use their email again."

Gardevoir frowned. "Let's not. Last time nearly gave me a heart attack."

"OK, then. To the nearest town!"

The nearest human settlement happened to be a large city, as they found out a few days later. Gardevoir eyed it apprehensively, but Paul, after crossing the city limits without trouble, seemed perfectly at ease.

"We should find somewhere to wait until night. The streets shouldn't be nearly so crowded then." he said. They found a narrow, relatively clean alley, sat down, and waited. The streets did become less crowded after dark, except near various movie theaters and restaurants.

"Help me find a working pen." Paul said as they began to roam the more deserted parts of town. The first three pens they found didn't work. The fourth, however, wrote well on the scrap of paper Paul had brought for that purpose. An hour-and-a-half of scrounging around yielded enough loose change to buy a stamped envelope. Various fliers gathered from trash cans provided paper.

"Isn't your mom going to be suspicious when she finds that it's all written on the back of advertisements?" Gardevoir asked as they headed towards their hiding place at the edge of town.

"Nah, she should be used to it by now." Paul answered, "I usually just tell her I couldn't find anything better."

Gardevoir wisely kept any remarks to herself. The only activity going on at this late hour seemed to be a dance. Slow music drifted out into the night air as they stopped to listen. Paul set his stuff on the ground and bowed to Gardevoir.

"May I have this dance?"

Gardevoir restrained a a giggle and curtsied instead. "You may."

After a few false starts they were able to glide around in a simple waltz. Each tried their best to restrain their laughs as well as avoid stepping on the others toes. The song ended, and Paul bowed.

"You are an excellent dancer."

"As are you." Gardevoir couldn't help but grin. "Aren't you glad your mom made you take those dance lessons?"

Paul snorted. "I still would've rather had a root canal."

Another slow song began playing. Paul grinned.

"One more dance, then off to bed?"

Gardevoir laughed. "I'd love to."

They began dancing again. Deep in the shadows, the watcher smiled. They were learning. Slowly, but they were both learning.

The next day Paul, after writing his letter and having Gardevoir proofread it, wrote '1 stamped envelope' on a scrap of paper, gathered the amount of change needed, and headed to the post office. He received quite a few strange looks, but no objections. When he placed the money and note on the counter, someone asked, "Is that legal?"

The cashier read the note and shrugged. "As long as it has the money."

Paul nodded thanks as he took the envelope and hurried back to Gardevoir as fast as he could without attracting much attention.

"How many weird looks did you get?" she asked.

"At least twenty-five." Paul replied as he stuck the letter in the envelope and sealed it, "I guess they're not used to seeing a Gallade ask for an envelope."

"Well, most Gallade don't have anyone to write to."

"Yeah, I guess you have a point."

They waited for a while, then casually strolled by the post office. Paul dropped the letter into the box as they went past. Their mission accomplished, they headed for the outskirts of the city. They went into a seemingly deserted alleyway and were about halfway through when a noise made them turn. The way they came was blocked off by Meowth and Glameow. They turned to find the way forward blocked in a similar manner. In front of the group was a Persian who was obviously the leader.

"This is our territory." he growled.

"We were just leaving." Gardevoir said, keeping the nervousness out of her voice. The Persian looked amused.

"Well look what we have here." he purred, "On a date? How cute."

"Bodyguard, not date. Get it right." Paul gritted as he searched vainly for a way out. There wouldn't be a problem if it were just him, but he had to make sure Gardevoir got out, too.

"Bodyguard, huh? Let's see how well you guard."

Paul felt a small piece of gravel underneath his foot. He kicked it with all his might. The Persian yowled as it hit him in the eye.

"Time we weren't here." Paul muttered as he picked up Gardevoir and leaped over the Persian and his crew. He didn't pause as he set Gardevoir down. They ran as fast as they could, but the sound of their pursuers remained constant. The alley ended and they burst out into a busy sidewalk. Dodging between people and bicycles, Paul and Gardevoir made for the outskirts of the city.

"I'd just as soon avoid any large cities from now on." Paul grunted as a woman took a swipe at him with her handbag.

"Same." Gardevoir panted. After several narrow scrapes involving either the Persian gang or traffic, they made it out of the city and to the safety of the sparse trees. Wearily they sat underneath a large tree.

"I don't care what mom will think, I'm not going through that again."

"I don't blame you." Gardevoir said, "Especially when everyone thinks we have some sort of romantic interest in each other."

"Eww, gross." Paul made a face, "That would be just wrong."

"I'm sticking with the 'just friends' idea, myself." Gardevoir agreed.

"Sounds good."

Once they had regained their breath they started walking until sunset.

"I wonder where we are?" Paul said as they lay down.

"I saw a sign that said 'Crystal City,' if that helps." Gardevoir yawned.

"Crystal City?" Paul whistled, "We're a long ways from home." he became very quiet.

"Feeling homesick?" Gardevoir asked after a moment.

"Yeah. A little." To Gardevoir it sounded like it was more than a little.

"We'll get back home. Don't worry."

Paul was quiet a moment. "Thanks. I'm feeling a little better now."

"You're welcome." Gardevoir yawned again and went to sleep.

Paul stared at the stars through the leafy canopy. It reminded him of when he was little, and Gardevoir was still a Ralts. They used to sleep under the trees in his backyard almost every night during the summer. In fact, during the summer they practically lived outside, coming inside only for the occasional meal, supplies, and bad weather. How long would it be until he saw that backyard again? He hadn't been keeping very good track of the days, but he thought it had been close to a year. Paul glanced at Gardevoir, curled up on the ground. At least she was still there. And she considered him a friend. Paul liked that for some reason. Who else could honestly say that they were best friends with their Pokémon? Gardevoir didn't care if he looked like a human or a Gallade. Paul smiled at this as he closed his eyes.


	9. Ouchies

"What luck! Another Gallade for my collection!"

Paul opened his eyes and jumped up. A rather odd-looking man was looking at him and rubbing his hands excitedly.

"Go, Gallade!" he cried as he threw a pokéball. A Gallade popped out and started advancing on Paul.

"Oh crud." he muttered as he backed up and looked around. Gardevoir was nowhere in sight. The Gallade attacked without warning. Paul desperately fended him off as he tried to come up with an idea of how to escape this situation. Where did Gardevoir go?

"Leaf Blade!"

"Ow." Paul said after he finished rolling. The other Gallade was immediately on top of him. Paul tried to fend him off, but it was obvious that this Gallade was much better trained than him. In desperation Paul took to the trees, jumping from branch to branch with the Gallade close behind.

"I don't suppose you could just let me go." Paul panted as he somersaulted over his opponent's Slash.

"Sorry. What the boss says goes."

"Shoot." Paul muttered. Where in the world was Gardevoir?

As the chase continued, Paul saw that he was being herded towards where the man was. Not like he had much choice in the matter. Only a miracle could get him out of this one. Or Gardevoir. Where _was_ she? Paul was knocked out of the trees and landed in front of the man, who laughed with glee as he threw a pokéball. Paul barely managed to knock it away. Since he technically wasn't a "true" Pokémon, could he actually be caught? He didn't want to find out. The Gallade leaped and narrowly missed Paul's head. The battle continued. The Gallade attacked, and Paul answered back with his own. Slowly, but much faster than he would have liked, Paul was beaten down. As he fell to his knees, the man cackled and threw a pokéball. Paul watched it come in slow motion. There was no doubt in his mind that this one would catch him. Gardevoir would never know what happened to him. Speaking of Gardevoir, _where the heck was she?_

An invisible barrier sent the pokéball flying back. Paul looked to see Gardevoir come out of the trees. The man and his Gallade stared. Gardevoir used Hypnosis, and the two fell to the ground, snoring. That done, Gardevoir rushed to Paul's side.

"Are you all right?" she asked, both her face and voice full of concern. Paul tried to stand and fell.

"No." he gasped.

Gardevoir gently knelt, put his arm over her shoulders, and helped him stand.

"There's a pokécenter not that far away. Come on, you can make it."

Leaning heavily on Gardevoir, Paul staggered in the direction she led. Gardevoir kept up a steady stream of encouragement, but he hardly heard it. In addition to hurting all over, he felt sick and weak. Paul was about ready to collapse, pokécenter or no. The only thing that kept him going was the fact that Gardevoir had come back. Where had she been?

Paul hardly noticed when they entered the pokécenter. The Nurse Joy there almost leaped over the counter as she rushed to get Paul's other side and lead him into a room with a bed.

"How is it that you come asking for a map and bring back a hurt Gallade?" she asked. This made no sense to Paul. Just before they reached the bed, he fainted.

_This ground feels awfully soft._

The memory of what had happened slammed into him. Paul opened his eyes and saw Gardevoir sitting next to him.

"How are you feeling?" she asked.

Paul groaned. "Like I got hit with a cement truck. So, a little better."

"At least you're feeling better."

Paul shook his head to clear it and was rewarded with a dizzying sensation that made him want to throw up. When the room stopped spinning, he looked at Gardevoir again.

"Where..."

Nurse Joy came in.

"You shouldn't be awake yet." she said sternly as she pulled a bottle from a cupboard and poured a purple liquid into a large spoon. "Swallow this."

Paul entertained the idea of refusing and asking Gardevoir where she had been before he saw the glint in Nurse Joy's eyes. Obediently he swallowed the medicine that tasted like cough syrup. Nurse Joy smiled in a satisfied way as she put the bottle back.

"You'll feel better when you wake up." she said as she left.

Gardevoir smiled. "I'll be right here."

Paul muttered something about girls before succumbing to sleep.

It was dark outside when Paul woke next. The first thing he noticed was that he was sore, but not in any serious pain.

"I'm glad to see you awake." Gardevoir said as he opened his eyes.

"How long?" Paul asked as he propped himself up on his elbows. Gardevoir pushed him back down.

"A day and a half since you last woke up, and a few hours before that. Nurse Joy was worried that she overdosed on the medicine. Are you feeling better?"

"Yeah. Lots." Paul paused a moment, "Where were you?"

"I was getting you this." Gardevoir handed him a folded map. "You seemed really homesick, so I thought this might make you feel better. Of course, I also thought you would be able to take care of yourself."

Paul smiled as he unfolded the map. "Well, I guess this was the one time I couldn't take care of myself, but the map does make me feel better. Thanks."

He spread the map out. Gardevoir pointed to where they were, and Paul located where he lived. They were a long ways apart.

"I think I've found where we've been." Gardevoir said as she began tracing their route backwards. "We've been all over."

"Wow, we have." Paul agreed. Nurse Joy came in. Her eyebrows went up when she saw the two looking at the map, but didn't say anything about it.

"You two should get some rest. Especially you." she looked at Paul, "You can leave tomorrow morning."

Paul obediently folded up the map and laid down. Nurse Joy smiled as she left.

"Is it just me, or are Nurse Joys a lot more strict with Pokémon than they are with people?" Paul said.

"That's probably because some Pokémon don't like to listen. Good night."


	10. Final Smackdown

_'Italics'_ means the character is speaking through telepathy.

...

The next morning they left the pokécenter. Paul was still a little sore, but it wasn't enough to slow him down. Gardevoir noticed that he veered towards the morning sun, heading in the direction that his home lay. She could understand that. After all, Paul hadn't been away from home for a very long time before he got transformed. After a few days of walking Paul stumbled over something, falling on his face.

"Oof."

"Are you OK?" Gardevoir asked, helping him up.

"Yeah, I just tripped over something." He looked to see what he had tripped over and stared in surprise. It was the remains of a stone wall, so deteriorated as to be almost nonexistent. They continued onward and came across more ruins.

"Looks like some ancient city." Gardevoir said, "Should we check it out?"

"Sure. There's usually interesting stuff in old ruins."

They began wandering around the decaying streets. It was about the size of a small town, less than a mile across at its widest point. Poking through piles of rubble and occasionally venturing into any structures that looked relatively sound, they discovered nothing of interest.

"Maybe this place has already been discovered." Gardevoir said. Paul was about to agree when something caught his eye. It was a gray-green stone laying at the bottom of a wall. Curious, he looked closer. It obviously wasn't local, as the stone around them was a tan color. About the size of his hand, it was flat, square, and had an indentation of some sort on the top.

"What is it?" Gardevoir asked.

"Take a look at this."

Gardevoir looked closely. "That indentation looks like your pendant."

Paul looked at his pendant, then back at the stone. There was a similarity. A little hesitant, he took it off and pressed it into the indent. There was a rumbling sound. They backed up, looking around nervously. Part of the ground next to the stone slid away, revealing steps leading downwards. It seemed to be lit with a phosphorescent glow. Paul retrieved his pendant before looking into the hole.

"Should we go in?"

"I don't know..."

Paul knew that it might not be the smartest thing to go down into a dark tunnel that led goodness knows where and in all likelihood contained something nasty, but his sense of curiosity got the better of him. "Let's just go down a little ways. If there's anything that looks even remotely bad, we'll get right back out."

"If you're sure." Gardevoir sounded uneasy, but followed Paul down the steps. The walls were lined with some substance that let off a dim light. After a short distance the steps ended. They went down a straight tunnel with no forks or branches. After a couple of minutes it ended in a small room.

"Looks like a dead end." Paul said as he turned to leave. A muffled roar stopped him in his tracks. "What was that?"

"I don't know, but I think we should get out of here."

They started for the exit. There was another roar, and a huge shape seemed to burst from the ground. Paul gulped as it towered over them.

"T-Tyranitar." he stuttered as the gargantuan Pokémon started lumbering towards them.

"What do we do?" Gardevoir asked as they backed off.

"No choice but to fight. The problem is that it's a rock-dark type, and I don't know any fighting moves."

"Why do they always have to be dark types?" Gardevoir muttered as the Tyranitar reared up and let loose another roar. The Tyranitar charged, and they split up. Gardevoir did her best to distract it while Paul tried every move he knew and a few that he didn't. Nothing seemed to work. Paul grunted as he got slammed into the wall for the umpteenth time.

"Why couldn't it be something easy, like a Geodude or something?" he said as he struggled to his feet. Gardevoir used Double Team, buying him a few moments.

"No time to think about that." she panted. Paul realized that she was just as tired as he was. This was all his fault. If he hadn't been stupid enough to lead Gardevoir down here, they wouldn't be in this mess. Too late he saw an orange ball of energy form in the Tyranitar's mouth. The Hyper Beam slammed him against the wall and held him there for a second. He fell to the floor, unable to move, trying to see beyond the haze that obscured his vision. A startled yell brought him to his senses. The mist cleared a little and he saw that the Tyranitar had cornered Gardevoir and was charging up another Hyper Beam. Faster than lightning, scenes from their journey flashed before his eyes. Gardevoir hugging him, trying to waltz outside a dance hall, kneeling over him as he woke up as a Pokémon for the first time, holding a mud-covered Mudkip, sledding down a Graveler run, chewing him out, finding him a map just to make him feel better, jumping in front of him as Ninetales launched its curse...

All that happened in less than a moment. Tapping into a hidden reserve of strength he didn't know he had, Paul leaped up and shoved Gardevoir out of the way just as the Tyranitar launched the Hyper Beam. There was a blinding flash of pain, and Paul found himself slumped against the wall. Somehow, he knew he shouldn't be alive. He wasn't sure if he was alive. Everything seemed dimmer than it should be. The Tyranitar was nowhere in sight. Where did it go?

There was a gentle touch on his arm. Moving his head as little as possible, he looked and saw Gardevoir kneeling beside him.

"Where's..."

Gardevoir gently pressed a finger to his lips, silencing him. "Gone. It must have been an illusion. Try not to move."

Paul blinked. Where there lights coming off of his body, or was he just imagining it? "Are you OK?"

Gardevoir's smile couldn't conceal the worry in her eyes. "You're almost dead and you're asking me if I'm OK?" The smile faded a bit. "Thank you for saving me. I don't think I could ever repay you."

A ghost of a grin touched Paul's mouth. "You don't have to. You did the same thing for me."

There was a sharp bark, and Paul's world went white. When his vision returned, everything was blurry. Was he dead? No, he couldn't be. He could make out Gardevoir beside him, but couldn't see her face clearly. Another white shape was farther back. He lifted a hand to rub his eyes and stopped. His hand wasn't a Gallade hand anymore. It was a human hand. The white shape came closer and dropped something in his lap. Paul touched it and recognized his glasses. He put them on and blinked a couple of times as the world slid into focus. Ninetales was in front of him.

"N-Ninetales..."

"The curse has been broken."

"Um...Thanks." Paul looked at Gardevoir. She was doing her best to look happy, but Paul saw sadness in her face. He felt a pang of regret. They had been through so much. "We did it." he whispered.

_'We did.'_

Paul jumped. "Did you say that?"

Gardevoir's face brightened. _'I did.'_

"Wow." Paul said, stunned, amazed, and overjoyed at the same time.

"Some bonds can bridge the gap between humans and Pokémon, if they are strong enough."

Paul turned to Ninetales. "You were following us, weren't you?"

Ninetales nodded. "I had to make sure you truly learned."

"And you made the Tyranitar disappear, didn't you?"

Again the Ninetales nodded. "You had learned your lesson. I hope you will remember it. Farewell."

It turned and bounded out. Paul smiled and stood up. "Great, now I can go back to being a klutz."

_'At least you don't have to break into any more houses just to e-mail your mom.'_

"True."

They headed outside. Paul only tripped twice while trying to readjust to his old body. The sun was beginning to get low in the sky as they reached the open air.

"I don't know about you, but I'm ready to head home."

_'Sounds great.'_

Paul smiled to himself as they started walking. He didn't know if he would ever get used to Gardevoir talking to him through telepathy. As they walked, Paul noticed that he was still wearing the pendant Sentret had given him, and that he still had the scar from his burn. He also noticed that, while he wasn't even close to being as graceful and coordinated as when a Gallade, he was definitely less clumsy than before.

The going was relatively faster, since they didn't have to worry about avoiding people. They even managed to hitch a ride on a passing truck. After a few days they were one town away from home. Paul stopped at the pokécenter and, with a bit of trepidation, called his mom. She looked about ready to faint when she saw who was calling.

"Paul! Where are you? Why haven't you called for so long? Are you OK? Did you get into trouble?"

"I'm fine, mom." Paul said, stopping the flow of questions, "I just got caught up in some things. I'm in Fair View right now. I was just calling to tell you that I'll be home sometime tomorrow afternoon."

"OK, hon. See you tomorrow."

"Bye." Paul hung up the phone and took a big breath. "She's going to kill me tomorrow."

The next afternoon they arrived in front of Paul's house.

"Wish me luck." he muttered as he climbed up the porch steps.

_'Good luck. I'll be right beside you.'_

Paul smiled at the encouragement and reached for the door handle. The door flew open to reveal his mom, face stormy.

"Over a year, and all I get are two letters and an e-mail. Why didn't you write more often? You could have been dead for all I knew!"

_'Guess her crystal ball wasn't working.'_

Paul lowered his head in an effort to conceal his grin. "Sorry, mom."

His mom's face softened. "Next time, could you at least call?"

"Yeah, mom." Paul hugged her, "I promise."

She smiled. "Dinner's almost ready. Now come inside and tell me where that scar on your arm came from."

_'Better make up something fast.'_

Paul smiled as he followed his mom into the house. "It's good to be home."

...

That's all, folks! Hope you enjoyed at least a little bit of it.


End file.
